BILLERICA – Under a new bill at the Statehouse, anyone who manufactures, sells or delivers opioids will have to contribute to a stewardship fund dedicated to reducing co-pays for Narcan prescriptions.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan highlighted the bill Tuesday during a press conference that the Greater Lowell Health Alliance (GLHA) held with its partners.

The bill is the product of efforts to address high co-pays which often prevent opioid users from filling, or re-filling necessary Narcan prescriptions. In New York — the only state with such a fund — the fund has reduced co-pays to $5 or $7, Ryan said.

“It is something that truly saves lives,” Ryan said.

The bill is currently before the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery.

This targeted approach is typical of how the GLHA and communities in the Substance Use and Prevention Task Force are addressing the opioid crisis. Those efforts were highlighted during the press conference which was organized to coincide with September being National Recovery Month and October being National Substance Abuse Prevention month.

Under the task force and with the support of the GLHA, the communities of Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Lowell, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Westford and Wilmington have partnered to share information, pursue grants and implement programs in their communities.

Every year, the event is held in a different participating community. This year, Billerica hosted Ryan, the GLHA team, local police chiefs, Town Manager John Curran and others.

“This is something that we do to highlight that work but this is something that they do each and every day,” GLHA Executive Director Kerrie D’Entremont said.

The opioid crisis hit Greater Lowell hard. Between 2012 and 2016 the number of opioid related fatal overdoses in Greater Lowell increased by 80%, Ryan said. That developed after leaders in the area began working to address the issue. It took four years for the numbers to start to decline,but once they did, they kept going in the right direction.

“It’s been real change — a sustained change,” Ryan said. “That’s a testament to the work being done here, real partnership.”

It is a message that Ryan and others are now sharing across the country. That the work takes time, even years, to show results.

To help, the GLHA provides grants to support programs and services in a variety of areas. Between 2014 and 2015, the GLHA provided $393,356 in grant funding dedicated to substance use and prevention, according to the GLHA’s annual report.

The goal is to identify gaps in services and provide grants to help cover those gaps, D’Entremont said.

“There are so many efforts out there but everyone is working in silos,” said D’Entremont.

This is why partnerships like the task force are key.

The partnership has brought in grants to tackle transportation; another barrier that affects those in recovery. Ryan explained the cost of travel and limited access to transportation can prevent individuals from reaching drug court or necessary support programs.

Under the leadership of Tewksbury Police Chief Tim Sheehan, communities like Tewksbury and Billerica acquired a grant to provide transportation services like UberHealth.

Looking forward, Higgins said an upcoming project is to improve information sharing across communities and emergency response departments. Doing so will help departments like Higgins’ follow up with individuals and their families who may need support. Currently, Higgins and a plain clothes detective follow up on every opioid-related overdose involving Narcan, but there is sometimes a disconnect between divisions in relaying all incidents.

Billerica Police Chief Daniel Rosa said he has never seen this level of cooperation in the Greater Lowell community. As he shared that Billerica’s opioid-related overdose numbers are improving, he reiterated the importance of partnerships.

“There is no single strategy that will get us out of this,” Rosa said.

The event also highlighted upcoming events throughout Greater Lowell geared towards those struggling or recovering from substance abuse and their families. A calendar of the events can be found online through the GLHA website.

Emma R. Murphy joined The Sun as a reporter covering Billerica, Tewksbury and Wilmington in 2019. Previously, Emma spent four years covering Brookline and Needham for the Brookline TAB and Needham Times. A University of Vermont graduate, Emma enjoys kayaking, cooking and traveling. She once hiked coast to coast across northern England.